The Hero's Path 1: The Cursed Ruby
by Marriella Bullet
Summary: Unhappy with his life, Luke Skywalker runs away from Tatooine. But he soon gets himself involved in a deadly quest for a cursed ruby, and to survive he must outsmart devious theives, powerful wizards... and Darth Vader.
1. Prologue

**The Hero's Path: Episode I**

**The Cursed Ruby**

**Summery: Luke Skywalker is unhappy with his life on Tatooine, so he runs away. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what evil awaits him as he goes out into the unpredictable galaxy…**

**Author Note: This is the first in a six episode series that I've been working on for years. So sit back and enjoy. I plan to make this my finest work ever!**

**Author: The Bullet**

**Prologue**

Sand. Lots and lots of sand. Heat radiating from twin suns. Caverns and caves, dirty towns and cities. This was Tatooine. The never changing desert planet on which a very unhappy person lived.

Luke Skywalker.

Luke had been living on this dust ball for the entire fifteen years of his life. He was either working, or bored. He had no real friends except for Biggs Darklighter, and Biggs had gone away to a boarding school on Corescaunt.

Imperial Center.

The very center of the galaxy. The capital of the Empire. The planet where everything fun and exiting happened. Corescaunt, with the important people, the politicians, the Moffs… and the Emperor. The only planet that young Luke Skywalker wanted to visit.

Unfortunately, he wasn't even close to going there any time soon. Uncle Owen told him he needed to stay, and as always, Aunt Beru would agree with her husband, saying that it was for the best.

One time, Luke heard Beru Lars say that he was safer here. Safer from what? Luke was a nobody. Nobody knew him, and nobody cared. This was the exact opposite of how Luke wanted it to be.

Luke wanted to have his own ship and fly all over the galaxy. Visit every last one of the systems in the universe just to say that he'd seen them all. Some day, he would make this dream a reality. Someday he would have adventures that beat every adventure before it. He would learn everything that there was to know. He would be able to say that he'd done it all.

Yeah, like in twenty years! He was nowhere even _close_. Luke hadn't even been to Mos Eilsey. Imagine how long it would take just to get to the next planet! Who was he kidding? He wasn't going anywhere any time soon. He wanted to see it all, but he couldn't. He was just a kid.

_Not just a kid!_ Luke reminded himself. He was fifteen after all! That wasn't a kid. Luke could race with anyone from Ancorhead and beat them. Luke could speed past anyone without even thinking about it. Well, okay, he'd never been able to actually _beat_ Fixer yet, but he was getting close.

How wonderful it would be to be able to say that he'd driven every kind of speeder, every kind of ship! To say that he'd driven things that no one else had driven before! So many dreams! Dreams just waiting to become real. But dreams that may never be.

Luke looked at the vaperators. He was discouraged to discover that he still had twelve more to check. At this rate, he'd never be done it time to race with his friends!

Luke stole a glance in the direction of the house. Maybe Uncle Owen wouldn't mind if Luke took a little break. After all, Luke had been working all day. Didn't he deserve a rest? Or a chance to hang out with his friends? In other words, race?

Stealing one more glance at the house, Luke quickly got into his speeder, and started it up, making his way to Ancorhead…

…

"Hey, guys!" Luke said as he burst into the station that he and his friends usually met at. "Are we racing today?"

Fixer sat up from his crouched position. "Yep! You ready to lose, Wormie?"

Luke flinched at being called by his nick-name. He hated being called 'Wormie.' The guys here just didn't give him any respect. In fact, _no one_ gave Luke any respect. He was like an unwanted animal following everyone around. It wasn't a good feeling.

"Yeah, I'm ready to race, but not to _lose!_" Luke declared.

"Oh? It isn't good to get all cocky like that, Wormie," Camie commented.

Camie had always hung out with the other guys. And though she never actually raced, she would watch most of the races. She had been counted as 'just one of the guys' when they'd all been kids. But when they became teenagers, Camie became Fixer's girlfriend.

Most of the guys were jealous of Fixer having a girlfriend while they didn't. Luke didn't really care. He wasn't good with girls anyway, so it didn't really matter.

And it wasn't like Luke liked Camie. She was always mean to him, so he always tried to avoid talking to her.

Fixer spoke up. "Well come on, guys. Let's get this race going."

…

Luke tested his engine as he waited for the race to start. As always, it was down to Fixer and Luke. This was always the race that Luke lost. Fixer would always win, and push it in Luke's face.

Camie would also use this occasion to torment Luke more. As if she didn't torment him enough! Was she _trying _to be mean, or did it just come naturally? Luke liked to think the latter. Camie was pretty, that was true… but she was _mean!_

There was a blaster shot, and the race was on.

Luke kicked the engines into gear, and went up to the highest speed. There was no way that he was losing this time!

…

**Twenty Minutes Later…**

"LUKE!? LUKE!?" Owen Lars called, standing in the homestead courtyard. "Oh, you're really in for it this time! Luke!? Where are you!?"

Owen was way more then just 'mad.' Driving his speeder through the Waste Lands was one thing, but crashing it into the vaperators was something else entirely! Luke was really going to get it for crashing! And this time, Beru wasn't going to interfere!

…

Luke ran into the bunk room where the hired hands slept. It was the middle of the day so no one should be in there.

_Good,_ Luke thought. _Empty._

Well, he'd totally lost the race. That was obvious. Something has happened to his steering during the race, and Luke got way off the racing lines, and ended up in crashing into the moister vaperators. Ops.

He wasn't ready to face his uncle yet. Luke had busted up that speeder up pretty bad, and Luke wasn't even going to _try_ to contemplate his uncle's reaction when he saw the vaperators.

_I need to think of something to tell Uncle Owen,_ he thought. _Yeah, good idea, Luke! Think of something. Like what?_

…

Owen finally decided that Luke wouldn't be coming out to face him any time soon. There was only one thing left to do.

Owen called in a couple of the hired hands. If Luke wouldn't come out, then he'd have the workers find Luke and bring him out that way. It wasn't the best way to start things off, but Owen couldn't find Luke, and there was no telling when Luke would come out again!

After explaining the situation –or part of the situation- to the hired hands, he had them spread out and start their search.

…

Hal couldn't believe it. He'd been hired to work on the farm, not find trouble making teenagers! Apparently, Owen Lars' nephew, Luke, had been causing trouble again. As usual, and now he and four other workers had to find him.

But where was he going to look? Hal started for the kid's bedroom, but halfway there, he stopped. That kid wasn't stupid enough to hide in his own room! He knew that it was the first place that would be searched.

Hal decided to put himself in Luke's shoes. _Where would I hide if I were in his place?_

And then he had it. Of course! The bunkroom! That was the last place that anyone would look! In fact, no one would look there!

_Except for me,_ Hal thought smiling.

_Maybe I can say it was Fixer's fault? No, bad idea! Uncle Owen would see right through that._

Luke had been sitting here for what seemed like _forever, _and he still hadn't been able to think of anything to tell his Uncle. At this point, he'd never be able to come up with anything!

Suddenly, Luke heard footsteps coming to the bunkroom.

_Uh-oh…_

"There you are, you little vrelt!" Luke heard one of the hired hands declare.

"Yikes!"

Luke jumped out of his hiding place, and tried to run. But it was no use. Hal was much taller and faster then Luke, and he soon had the young teenager secured. Luke was in for it now…

…

To be Continued…

…

**Author Note: I know, this wasn't very exciting. But it's only the prologue. The next chapter will be much more interesting, I promise! I don't want to speed through the story anyway. **

**Please review, and _please_ don't kill me for starting another story! It's just that I've wanted to make this story a reality for _years,_** **but I didn't want to write it until I had already had lots of experience in writing stories.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Three Months Later…**

Luke woke up with a start. It had been a dream. A dream of the first of the happenings that made Luke want to run away. And yes, Luke _had _run away. A few weeks after that incident, he had decided that he wanted to be master of his own destiny. Luke couldn't wait any longer to fulfill his dreams. So he'd left…

He had taken a ship to Imperial Center. The first place that he wanted to visit. Unfortunately, he'd never gotten around to leaving Corescaunt. He couldn't leave. Yes, he _wanted_ to leave, but he just wasn't able to yet. He owed some people lots of money, and those debts had to be taken care of before he left, or those people would come after him.

Luke sighed, and sat up in his bed. What time was it?

Luke leaned over to read the crono watch on the table next to his bed. Blast it! He'd slept in!

Of course, Luke had a good excuse. He'd been up late last night at the cantina that he frequented. Stars, he went there so often, that he didn't need to tell the bartender what he wanted. Steve already knew. Yes, Luke and the bartender at that cantina, Steve, were on a first name basis.

Luke stood up, and walked to the other side of the room where the ladder taking him up to the street was. His home was really small. Luke had found it by accident.

He'd been trying to get away from authorities, and he'd run into an ally. There, he saw a disguised, metal door in the ground that, when opened, took you a few meters down into a small room. It was a perfect little home for Luke.

The 'house' was far enough below the surface for Luke to be safe from anyone finding him, and it was high enough from the underground of Corescaunt for him to be safe from anyone else. It was right between the surface and the underground, and a perfect little hideout.

True, it was a few steps down from the farm back on Tatooine, but at least Luke was free to do whatever he wanted. There was no one to tell him what to do. Just as Luke wanted, he was master of his own destiny.

Making his way up the ladder, Luke lifted the door, and came up into the ally. Before he came up entirely, he made sure that no one was around to see him. When the coast was clear, Luke quickly came up, and closed the door down into the ground. Now no one could even tell that there was a door there.

With this taken care of, Luke exited the ally, and walked through the streets in search of breakfast. This was always his morning routine. Luke was used to this schedule.

Luke had learned a lot during his life on the streets. He learned to be careful about the people you trusted, he learned to be swift when he needed to make a quick getaway, and he'd also learned to be careful about what he said. So Luke had become more of a listener, and he was a good listener.

Luke could make it look like he was focused on something else entirely, when really; he was hearing every word of what the other party was saying. It came in handy sometimes.

These days, Luke didn't wear his Tatooine garb. He wore dark colored pants with a belt and blaster hanging from it. His shirt was also dark, with a black, almost leather-looking jacket. This jacket came in handy when he was stealing stuff. It had big pockets, and it was perfect for hiding stolen merchandise.

Luke began to get even hungrier. Time to get some money and have breakfast.

Luke began to examine the people in the crowd until he found the right person. With his now experienced eye, Luke could tell who had money, and who didn't.

After seeing the desired victim, Luke would 'run into' the person, or more like shove, and in a flash, his hand dove into the other man's pocket, and took the money from it.

Luke mumbled a 'sorry' for running into the man, and he then made his way through the crowd in a walk/run. When Luke was sure that he was a safe distance from the man, he examined his prize.

It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to buy breakfast, Luke realized triumphantly. Seeing a local patrol of stormtroopers, Luke quickly made his way past them, trying to look anonymous. Another thing that Luke had learned during his life here on the streets; the Empire was as cruel as it could get. Cruel and unjust. Luke hated the Empire just as much as anyone.

…

After a satisfying breakfast, Luke decided to hang out at his favorite cantina. He usually hung out there during the day. After all, there wasn't much else to do.

Entering the dirtied cantina, Luke made his way toward the bar.

"Hey, Luke!" the older bartender said. He was about forty years old, with already graying hair. "I'll have your drink out in a minute."

"Thanks, Steve."

This place was like his second home since his real home was only a small room. Luke had a couple friends that he also saw here at the bar, and sometimes he'd join them in watching speeder races.

Luke would have liked to participate, but he had to at least be sixteen, and Luke's birthday was still almost a full standard year away. Bummer.

"Here's your drink, Luke," Steve said, placing the alcoholic drink in front of Luke.

Steve knew that Luke was used to that sort of stuff, and could handle it without getting drunk. Except when Luke had a bad day and he was _aiming_ to get drunk.

Luke sipped the drink contentedly. He sat there for a couple more minutes until someone came up to Luke and addressed him.

"Hey, kid,"

Luke turned around to see who was talking. It was a man in his late twenties with dark red hair. Something about the man made Luke uneasy at first, but the feeling soon passed.

Luke nodded his acknowledgement.

"Would you care to come to my table and discuss something with me?" the man asked.

Luke eyed him warily. He seemed pleasant enough, but Luke had learned to never trust anyone's appearance.

"What do you want to talk about?" Luke asked carefully.

"A little matter of employment if you're interested."

He was interested! Employment. Getting paid. If Luke was able to make this happen, then he'd have his debts paid sooner then he thought. Still, Luke was cautious. "Fine. I guess I'll hear what you have to say."

The man led Luke to a table next to the wall, and offered him a seat. After they were both seated, the man began.

"My name is Langern Lenson. I run a business for people currently out of jobs, and I came here to talk about hiring you."

It sounded good enough. "What exactly is the business that you take care of?" Luke asked. He was willing to bet that it was something illegal. And he was right about that…

"You would be doing shoplifting most of the time. The older people take care of the bigger jobs."

Shoplifting. Luke was good at that. And it would be smart to take a job that would allow him to do something that he was good at. "Hmm… I guess I could do that," Luke said, still being careful.

"That's great. If you want, you can come stay where me and the other guys stay."

"I got my own place, thank you very much." Working for this guy was one thing, but moving in with him was _not_ something that Luke was up to.

"Alright, fine by me. If you already have a home, then I understand. I'll meet you here tomorrow at this same time, and you can begin work then."

"Sounds good."

With that, Langern left the cantina, and Luke went back up to the bar to talk with Steve.

"Who was that guy?" Steve asked. "Someone you know?"

Luke shook his head. "Naw. He offered me a job."

"And you took the job, right?"

Luke snorted. "Steve, I've been looking for a job for a month. Of course I took the job!"

"Well, Luke, that's great! What kind of work are you doing?"

Luke thought for a minute. "Let's just say that I'll be doing what I'm good at."

Steve nodded. "Right, I get it."

…

Langern Lenson walked through the streets to his own place. Everything was going just as he planned.

He'd been watching that kid for weeks now. He seemed like a quick and clever person, and that was just what Lenson needed. He'd been looking for someone who could be smooth and fast and get out of situations on his own. The reason for finding someone like this was simple; he was going after the biggest ruby in the universe.

It was something that he'd seen when he was a kid. His father had always looked for rare valuables when Lenson was still a kid. When Mr. Lenson had come across that ruby, he'd thought that it would be just another valuable that he could collect. He was wrong.

Lenson didn't exactly know what happened. His father had come back saying that the ruby had mystical powers, even more powerful then the wizard who guarded the ruby. His father had died soon after that. He was too wounded to live.

Since that day, Lenson wanted to have the ruby that his father hadn't been able to get. But, seeing what had happened to his father, Lenson didn't want to be the one to actually _get_ it himself. He knew that he needed someone quick and clever… like the kid he'd just hired.

Yes, the whole thing about the business that Lenson ran, but it was also true that it was that kid who was going to get that ruby. The plan was simple; Lenson would let this go on for a while. The kid would do some shoplifting for Lenson for a few weeks, just to brush up of his skills, and then Lenson would make him go after the ruby. It was a plan that couldn't go wrong.

…

**Author Note: _Please_ review! The story is really going to get good.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

A few weeks went by. They were wonderful weeks for Luke. He got seventy-five percent of the profit he stole, and this way, he was able to make very fast money, and Luke soon paid off almost all of his debts.

Luke was getting really good at stealing. Only once had someone spotted him on the job, and Luke had been able to get away easily.

Today, Luke was doing about the same thing that he had been doing. Only this time, he was going to be able to steal some weapons. That was the kind of thing Luke liked doing, since he wanted a better quality blaster anyway. Though, having a speeder to give him a smooth getaway would be nice too. Hmm… maybe some other day.

Luke calmly walked into a store that actually sold high-quality blasters that rich people collected. But the blasters were all in very good condition, and you could still shoot with them.

Luke walked around the store a few times before seeing something that he just couldn't resist. It was a double barreled blaster that rotated so it could shoot over and over without having to recharge. _This_ he just had to get!

Looking around a few times to make sure no one was looking, Luke quickly grabbed the blaster, and tried to shove it into his pocket, but discovered that it was way to large. Luke decided to simply walk out and hoped no one noticed.

Unfortunately, someone _did_ notice…

"Hey, you! Stop! Kid, you haven't paid for that!"

Time to make a run for it! Luke ran out of the store, still clutching the blaster tightly. All he had to do was find some ally where he could hide. But there weren't any around here!

Luke still kept running, hoping that he could fade into the crowd.

But it wasn't going to be that simple. The storekeeper informed the authorities, and now Luke had an entire squad of stormtroopers on his tail. Not good.

Luke was getting desperate, and images of what would happen if he was caught began to play in his head, not exactly helping the situation. Oh, stars! This wasn't going well!

Suddenly, one of the troopers actually tackled him to the ground. Luke tried to worm his way out from under the trooper, but it was no use. More troopers came and hauled Luke to his feet, taking the blaster from Luke's hands.

"Thought you'd get away, didn't you, little street rat?" the lead stormtrooper said triumphantly.

Luke struggled in the stormtroopers' grasps, but it was no use. They were much stronger then Luke would have guessed. But Luke wasn't about to give up.

…

Lord Darth Vader watched in amazement as the boy the troopers were holding suddenly kicked his attackers, and did a flip into the air _over_ the stormtrooper's heads.

Then the brilliant youngster grabbed a long, metal pole that had been left in the streets, and held it, standing in attack position.

Of course, Vader wasn't actually _there_. This was being played live on one of the many hologram channels. How reporters got stuff like this live, Vader had no idea.

He focused back on the hologram right when the troopers began attacking the boy again. With a few deft leaps, he landed right in the middle of the troopers. When they attacked, the child stabbed the ground with the pole, and, still holding the pole with his hands to keep him steady, he lifted his feet in the air and ran in a circle on the trooper's heads.

What an extraordinary child! Apparently, the boy was a thief, and he probably lived on the streets.

Vader was almost disappointed when the boy was stunned and dragged away. He didn't know why, but he wanted to find out as much as he could about the boy…

…

Luke was taken to the local prison, and locked up in a cell. Apparently, they didn't care that Luke was only fifteen.

Luke sat on the floor, since there was no seat, hugging his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. What was he going to do? Luke had never been caught before, much less experienced being in prison, and he couldn't help but he a little frightened.

They had gotten his name, Luke didn't even know how. There had been some scanner thingy that they'd but him through, and when they did that, they knew Luke's name and precise age. Actually, that machine had been pretty cool.

Speaking of cool, it was _really_ cold in here! Luke shivered, and hugged his legs tighter. He was cold, hungry and scared. How long was he going to be in this place? Was he going to have to stay here for a year? Two years? His entire life? There was no way to know…

…

It had taken a while, but Vader finally got the number for the prison where the boy had been taken. Typing in the frequency, Vader waited for them to pick up.

His call was answered by a man who was obviously in charge of everything that went on at that prison.

"Lord Vader!" the man said in surprise. "What can I do for you?" he asked fearfully.

"I understand that you have recently taken a boy into custody."

The man looked confused, but he answered just the same. "Yes, we have, my lord."

"Who is he? What's his name?"

Vader didn't know why he asked that. In fact, he didn't even know why he was bothering to find out anything about the boy. When did he start getting interested in young thieves like this young one?

Vader didn't know the answer to these questions. He just felt as though the Force _wanted_ him to do this. In fact, the Force was _telling_ him to do this.

"His name is Luke Skywalker, my lord."

Luke Skywalker.

Time stopped. All conversation ceased. Vader stared into space, in utter shock. Nothing anyone could say would snap him out of this.

Luke Skywalker. The boy's name was Luke Skywalker. When Vader had asked for his name, he hadn't expected to hear this.

Skywalker.

Was this boy… no, it couldn't be! But, the child had demonstrated such skill. Had it been with the help of the Force that the boy had almost defeated those troopers? There were so many questions!

"How old is he!?" Vader demanded, nearly crossing his fingers. If the boy turned out to be his son, there would be so much that he'd want to know. So much that…

"We believe him to be fifteen, my lord," the man said, obviously curious as to why the Dark Lord found any of this interesting.

Fifteen. Just the right age. And now, thinking back, Vader realized that the boy closely resembled the way he used to look at that age. It was amazing. He had a child! How was this possible? Did this mean that he wasn't responsible for Padme's death? Had she simply died in childbirth as Vader had seen in his dreams? That had to be it, because Vader had a living, breathing child to prove it!

"Lord Vader?"

Vader focused back on the man. "Expect me to be there shortly. I wish to see the boy."

"Y… yes, my lord."

Vader turned off the com. He had a lot to do.

…

Captured. Lenson couldn't believe it. Luke had been captured. Why did this have to happen now? Right at the peak of the boy's potential? Right when Lenson was going to finally get the ruby!

Well, no matter. He could get some of the men together, and they could break Luke out of prison, and then, without anymore delays, he would take Luke to Rong, the planet where the ruby –and the wizard- was located.

"Carrel!" Lenson called. Carrel was his best man, and, was always the man to take charge when Lenson couldn't.

"Yeah, boss?" Carrel said, entering the room.

"We have work to do, and I get the feeling that we need to take care of this fast."

Carrel nodded, understanding. "What do we have to do?"

"A rescue mission. Let's go."

…

Luke didn't know how long he'd been in the cell until something happened. First, there was silence, and then, the sound of blasters being put to use was heard. What was going on?

Luke was thrilled to see Lenson and Carrel enter the cell. "Come on, kid!" Carrel said. "We gotta go!"

"No kidding!" Luke called back, standing up, and running out of the cell behind Lenson and the second hand man.

There wasn't much to keep them from escaping. Apparently, Lenson had already taken care of the guards.

Running like their lives depended on it, -and their lives _did_ depend on it- they got out of the run-down prison, and ran out into the streets, making their getaway.

…

Something wasn't right. Vader could tell as he entered the prison. Something was very wrong here. He decided to find out what it was.

"Lord Vader!"

Vader turned to see the man he had talked to over the come making his way toward him in a very nervous manner. Something had happened.

"What is it?" Vader asked dangerously.

"Uh, my lord… I'm afraid to say that… Luke Skywalker… had, uh, _escaped_."

No! It couldn't be! Vader had been so close to assuring himself that it _was_ his son. All he ha to do was see him. Just see the child up close, and he would have known.

"How did he escape?" Vader asked in a very low, _very_ dangerous voice.

"I… I'm sorry, my lord… some people broke into the prison and helped the boy escape. Our security recordings tell us that the people who helped him out are both wanted men."

Vader could take this! The boy –maybe his son- was in the company of dangerous men. Probably more thieves. Vader wouldn't be surprised if it was those thieves that taught his son the art of stealing. Not that you could call it an _art_.

"You realize that this was unacceptable!?" Vader said in a louder voice.

"Ah! Yes, my lord!"

"However, I will let you live… but only if you succeed in recapturing Luke Skywalker. Am I clear?"

"Uh, yes, my lord. I assure you, I will do everything I can to find him. I'll have him put on the wanted lists. I'll do all I can!"

"You better or your life with be forfeit."

…

_That was a close one, _Lenson thought to himself. _No more waiting. We go after that ruby first thing tomorrow morning!_

…

To Be Continued…

…

**Author Note: Thank you so much, Shanakin, for reviewing! Please everyone, I really need reviews to keep me going! Right now, I only have _one_ reviewer! That is really sad!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Despite Lenson's pleads for Luke to stay at the group's hideout that night, for 'safety reasons,' Luke insisted that he could sleep at his own house. After all, if Luke was trying to be safe, his home would be the safest place to go.

Luke was careful on his way home, staying away from anyone who could turn him over to the authorities. His few hours in prison had convinced him that he didn't want to do that again! He had to be careful and make sure that it was safe before he stole anything else.

Luke entered the ally, lifted up the metal trap door, and climbed down into the small room. Luke didn't bother to even take off his shoes. He was so sleepy after his busy day; he just collapsed onto his bed, and went right to sleep.

…

Vader couldn't sleep that night. How could he? He was almost positive that the boy was his son. It was just so obvious. The hair, the eyes, the skill. It was all his.

His child was so fascinating. Of course, Vader wasn't to thrilled that his son was a thief. Luke should be the exact opposite… a prince.

Who had raised his son to be this way? Or… maybe Luke had turned out this way because there hadn't _been_ anyone to raise him. This thought made Vader feel guilty, and he tried to justify his feelings.

It wasn't his fault. He hadn't known about his son. Had he known, then he would have already had the boy at his rightful place. Luke's rightful place was at Vader's side, as a prince.

A _prince!_ Not some low-life street rat! What evil had the young one been exposed to because of his rough life on the streets? What kind of people did he associate with? Luke should have been protected from a life on the streets. The little one deserved so much more then that.

Padme would have been so sad to see what had become of her son. She would have known about Luke. She would have made sure that none of this had happened. But it all had, and there was no way to change that.

…

When Luke woke up, the first thing he thought about was work. He had to go to work.

Without bothering to have breakfast, (Luke wasn't hungry) he made his way to Lenson's place so he could find out what he was supposed to do.

…

"Luke!"

Luke turned to see who was addressing him. It was Lenson.

"Hey, Lenson. What am I doing today?"

Lenson paused. It was almost like he was afraid to say whatever he was about to say. Strange… that wasn't like Lenson.

"Luke, today we're going to be doing something a little different."

Okay, this sounded promising. Either this was really good or really bad. Luke hoped it was the first, but he wasn't going to assume.

"What?" Luke asked, getting curios.

"Well, we're going to Rong."

Okay, by the way Lenson was saying this, it didn't sound so good. Luke was surprised to hear that Lenson wanted to leave the planet. What was the sudden move for?  
"Why?" Luke asked.

Lenson paused before explaining. "We are going to get the biggest ruby in the galaxy."

"Fascinating," Luke said in a 'whatever' like manner.

"Luke, don't you realize what this is? This ruby is something that people have tried to obtain, but couldn't. There's something about this ruby. Something that I want to know. And even if it does turn out to be just a regular ruby, imagine how much money we could make off of it!"

Okay, this was beginning to sound interesting again. Luke always wanted to have an adventure. A _real_ adventure. And now, here was his chance.

"Okay. When are we leaving?"

Lenson grinned. That was some freaky grin that guy had. "We just need to get a few things. Carrel and a few more of the men will be coming. We got a ship waiting for us as soon as we can leave."

Luke thought it was a little odd that Lenson was trying to leave so soon. But then, it was probably because he didn't want anything sudden to happen that would prolong their departure, so Luke let it go.

…

It didn't take long for Luke, Lenson and the other five who were coming along, to get their things together. Luke didn't have much that he wanted to take. Just his good luck charm.

Luke had found his good luck charm stuck in the metal door that opened down into Luke's house. It was a black string with a chapor snippet attached to it, with a very cool design carved on it. Luke called it his good luck charm because it was because of it that he found the house that he now lived in.

Luke almost always wore it, and he decided to wear it now. After all, he could use all the good luck he could get on this little mission.

…

It wasn't until they were on the ship that Luke wondered how they were going to leave the planet without getting stopped. It was Imperial Center after all, and they had very tight security.

It was the day that Luke learned the trick that allowed many skilled pilots get onto Imperial Center without being noticed.

It was so easy; Luke couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it. Imperial Center had a garrison orbiting the planet night and day. The garrison had scanners that scanned every ship coming and leaving the planet.

Well, every ship has a spot that isn't checked. Not on purpose. The scanners can't get everything, so there's always a shadow at the bottom of each ship that an experienced pilot can keep their own ship until they are safely out of the system.

No problem. And Luke had been worried that they'd get shot down on their way out. What a stupid worry!

…

Meanwhile, back down on Imperial Center, Vader felt a change in the Force. It felt as though something had just departed from it. There was an empty spot in the Force, where once there had been something. It couldn't be…

Vader reached out, trying to sense his son somewhere on the planet. He didn't feel anything. Did that mean that Luke had somehow left the planet? But if Luke had, somehow succeeded in doing so, then he could be anywhere by now! How was Vader going to find his son if he left the planet!

Someone would pay for this. Vader didn't know who, but he _did_ know that someone _would_ pay for this! How could his son leave the planet when he had been so close? The little one had no idea what kind of evil the galaxy had in store for him if he went out there alone.

Or perhaps he wasn't alone. Maybe he'd left with some of his thief friends. Oh, that was even worse! He had to find his son before something happened to him!

…

Lenson couldn't believe how well things were going. The kid went right along with the plan without questioning Lenson's intentions. If things continued to go this well, then he'd have the ruby in his possession in a short while.

It would only take a few days to reach Rong. Lenson had never been to Rong, and he didn't know what to expect. No one Lenson had ever talked to even knew what or where Rong was, and this showed how uninhabited it was.

Was there anything particularly special about the ruby? Lenson didn't know. His father had come back with injuries all over his body, but then, the wizard could have been responsible for that. After all, how could a _ruby_ cause anyone to die? It was impossible and absurd. The ruby was probably just a big jewel that a greedy wizard didn't want to give up. That was probably it.

Still, Lenson couldn't help but worry that there may be something about the ruby that he didn't know about. Lenson hated being in the dark. He liked knowing everything, but in this situation, he couldn't do anything but wait and find out what happened.

…

That night, Luke noticed that Lenson seemed lost in thought. And not only that, but he seemed to be especially nervous about something. In fact, _everyone_ seemed to be a little on the jumpy side. Was something going on that Luke didn't know about? Did everyone else know something that Luke didn't?

Luke sighed. It didn't matter. No one would tell him what was going on anyway. He had asked Carrel, but the man had simply ruffled Luke's hair and told him, 'it was going to be okay.'

What was _that_ supposed to mean? When Carrel had said that, Luke had gotten even more curious then before. He was sure now that something _was_ going on, but no one seemed to want to tell him.

Luke hated feeling left out, and right now, he _really _felt left out. It wasn't a good feeling, and because of this, Luke couldn't sleep that night.

Luke tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't sleep. Stars, he just had to find out what was going on!

…

To Be Continued…

…

**Author Note: Thank you guys! I've gotten more reviewers, and that's good. But I'm still not getting enough! Come on, people, don't be shy!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Today was the day. Finally, after traveling through space for days, they made it to Rong.

Luke had never been able to find out what everyone was so jumpy about. They continued to seem even more nervous as they descended from the ramp of the ship. Now that they were down here, actually on the planet, Luke had to admit that he was sort of scared himself.

Despite the fact that it was the middle of the day, it was dark. No, not pitch black, but dark. There were volcanoes in the distance. Luke had never seen one before. There was a long, dead valley in front of them with all sorts of foreboding looking trees. It was like nothing Luke had ever seen before.

"This is as far as I go!" one of the men said, backing up toward the ship.

"Coward," Luke mumbled under his breath. This was going to be his greatest adventure yet!

"In fact," Lenson said, "This is as far as all of us go, except you, Luke."

Now Luke turned around to face them. "Say what?"

Lenson smiled. This time, Luke was sure that Lenson's smile was freaky. "We go no farther. We'll wait here, while _you, _Luke, will fetch us the ruby."

"And what if I say no?" Luke said, just trying to see what they'd do. Lenson and the others got out their blasters, and aimed them at Luke. "Oh," Luke said calmly. "That's what."

Though Luke seemed calm, inside he was burning up. How could Lenson do this to him!? He had _trusted_ him, and for what? To be double crossed and forced to risk his life for something that he never wanted and still didn't need.

"Go on, Luke," Lenson said. "I'm waiting."

"I'm gonna get you for this," Luke mumbled, too low for anyone but himself to hear.

So, while Luke made his way across the valley, he began thinking about all the elaborate ways he could kill Lenson. It was, actually, a very entertaining game. But Luke soon got tired of it.

He couldn't believe that he hadn't seen this coming! Of course, now he knew why everyone had been so jumpy, and so reluctant to tell him anything. It was because they were going to use him to get filthy rich! How rude.

For hours, Luke walked through the valley which now seemed to have no end. But finally, he _did_ come to the end of it, and when he did, he saw something in-between two volcano mountains; a dark, spooky, really big castle.

"Great," Luke muttered. "A castle. It could be _anywhere _in that castle! Well, I might as well start looking."

Luke would have started looking a long time ago, but he couldn't find the entrance to the castle. He walked all around it, but still couldn't find any possible doorway. So he went on to plan b.

Luke looked around for something he could use to get himself into a window that was much too high for him to reach on his own. It was then that he came across a rope. Strange to find a rope here.

It was one of the old fashioned ropes that were probably never used now, but Luke had seen people use them in old hologram shows, and he had practiced with laundry tied together when he was really little.

Luke picked up the rope, untangled it, and threw it up to the piece of metal sticking out of the window. It worked! When Luke was sure that it was secure, he began to climb.

It was harder then he thought to climb up a rope, and Luke had to start over once or twice before he finally made it.

When he was finally perched up on the window, Luke tried to look into the dark room, but he couldn't see anything. This time, it was pitch black, and not just dark. Luke decided to take a chance, and step into the room.

Before doing anything, Luke got the rope, and tied it to his belt. After all, one would never know when this thing would come in handy again.

As soon as his feet hit the floor, Luke knew that he'd made a big mistake. It was an old fashioned floor, made out of wood that had rotted away years ago. Luke fell right through it, and the next floor, and the next floor… Luke had thought that he had _been_ on the first floor, but now he realized that a lot of the castle must also be underground, and that was where he was accidentally headed.

Finally, Luke hit solid ground, and blacked out.

…

When Luke came to his senses, it took him a moment to remember what had happened. Oh yeah, he'd fallen through the floor.

_Floors_, he reminded himself.

Well, might as well look around. Luke stood up, and his whole body started aching all over.

"Ah! Note to self; _never_ fall through floors again!"

After taking a moment to recover, Luke went on. This didn't look like a castle. It looked more like an abandoned cave. Something inside of Luke told him to be careful, so Luke went on, very, very carefully.

Apparently, not careful enough. Luke felt his foot hit something, and suddenly, Luke heard something behind him.

Luke didn't even have any time to move before he was hit by something rolling on a track that he hadn't seen before. Luke fell inside of the rolling thing, and tried to get up to see what was going on.

He was in an old fashioned mine cart.

"Gosh, everything is old fashioned around here!" Luke declared.

Not only was he in a mine cart, the cart was rolling –really fast- on a track. For a while, it just went straight, but suddenly, it went straight _down, _making Luke regret eating breakfast that morning.

When the cart stopped going down, it did a fast turn to the right, and then went high up. For a second, Luke wondered how the cart managed to go up, and it was then that he realized how fast the cart was really going.

Luke thought about getting off, but it was no use. The cart was on a track, and nothing else. If Luke jumped off, well… he couldn't even see the bottom, and thus, he wouldn't even be able to see where he was falling to.

A swishing sound caught Luke's attention and he looked ahead to see metal spikes that looked sort of like the lightsabers that he'd seen in a galactic museum on Imperial Center one time.

Only these were swinging back and forth, right above the carts, and Luke ducked just in the nick of time. Had he ducked any later, then his head would have been chopped off.

"Yikes," Luke muttered.

Suddenly, Luke saw that the track came to an abrupt end, not to far ahead of him. But the track was still going over a deep abyss. If he jumped, he'd probably keep falling forever!

Then, Luke remembered the rope. It was going to be difficult, but it was worth a shot…

Luke untied the rope from his belt, and tried to lasso something on the ledge way above his head. He missed!

With only seconds left to try again, Luke hurriedly tried it a second time and made it! Clutching the rope tightly, Luke jumped from the cart, just as it fell off the end of the track, falling into the abyss.

As for Luke, he swung up the ledge, and climbed onto it, breathing hard. He lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath, and finally, he stood up, brushing the dust off of his shirt.

"That was an experience that I don't want to go through again," Luke commented as he once again tied the rope to his belt. He was becoming quite attached to that rope!

Once again, Luke set out, trying to find a way out of the cave, and into the castle. This time, Luke was _much_ more careful so he wouldn't fall into anymore traps. Unfortunately, he did.

Luke had gotten into a cramped space, and he was literally trying to push the walls away from him so he could breathe. Suddenly, his hand pressed something, and the walls fell down, and a big statue collapsed, and started rolling right to where Luke was standing!

Luke didn't have time to wonder at how he'd done that; the statue was going to crush him if he didn't get out of the way!

Luke started running, but there was no place for him to be safe from the impeding statue, so he had to keep running, with the falling statue right behind him.

"I'm not gonna get crushed," Luke said to himself. "I'm not gonna get crushed." Then Luke looked behind him, and saw the statue just inches away from doing just that! "I'm gonna get crushed, I'm gonna die!"

It did seem like that, until Luke finally saw something that warmed his heart just to see it. Stairs!

Luke began running as fast as he could to the stairs. At first, he was afraid that he wasn't going to make it, but finally, he got to the stairs, and started running up as fast as he could. He got up the fist flight of stairs just in time. The statue crushed the stairs below him, and Luke could have been crushed just like that if he hadn't been as fast as he'd turned out to be.

Luke continued up the stairs at a much slower pace since he didn't have to run away from anything at the moment. The stairs took him up about ten floors before he finally came to a door. Taking a deep breath, Luke pushed the door open, and stepped into the room.

This was obviously part of the castle, and it was much more modern then the caves below. It was black marble all around him. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything was black marble.

Luke walked through the room, looking around in awe. He'd never seen so much marble in one place! The wizard must be really rich to have his castle built this way! And he had thought that the wizard was poor.

Of course, he had a good reason to. After all, the lower floors were made with wood, and the caves were all old fashioned. But as it turned out, the wizard seemed to be pretty darn wealthy.

Finding nothing more of interest in that room, Luke went on to the next room, which looked about the same. So he went to the next room, and the next, and the next, and the next, but they all seemed to be the same. Black marble everywhere and no ruby.

"Where is that darn ruby!?" Luke called out into thin air.

Suddenly, a deep, scary voice rang out, shaking Luke to the core. "Who dares enter my castle in search of my ruby!?"

It was the wizard!

…

To Be Continued…

…

**Author Note: Thank you guys! I'm getting more reviews, and that's good! Anyway, I've kicked up the story with a lot of action, let me know if you like it!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Luke slowly turned around to face the wizard, trying to keep his face neutral at the same time.

"Oh, there you are," Luke said, trying not to freak out.

The wizard was old, Luke had expected that, and he wore long, purple robes. The ends of the robes seemed to hover barely above the ground, and around the wizard was just pure shining light.

"Answer my question, boy, or you'll not live another day!" the wizard declared, his voice like thunder.

Luke waited a moment for all the echoes to fade away before he spoke. "Whoa. I have to admit, I'm completely creeped out. About the ruby, I really didn't want to come and get it, that's the truth!" Luke lowered his voice. "Not that I ever really tell the truth, but… you didn't really need to know that."

The wizard laughed. It wasn't a pleasant laugh. It was full of murder and power. "You say you do not come for the ruby, and yet, here you are."

Luke was quick to defend himself. "It wasn't my fault! Lenson made me do it! He was gonna kill me!"

"You lie!" the wizard yelled, his voice was now filled with rage. "For that, you will pay!"

"But I told you, It wasn't my…"

Luke was never able to finish his sentence. There was a magnificent red flash, and suddenly, Luke disappeared from the planet, from the galaxy, and from his dimension, into another one which was quite different…

Luke looked around himself. This certainly wasn't Rong. In fact, this was unlike anything he'd ever seen. He was standing on what appeared to be a sidewalk of some sort. Luke looked at the speeders the people were driving. The speeders were rolling instead of hovering, and the speeders looked so much different then what Luke was used to.

There were tall buildings all around him, but not _nearly _as tall as the buildings on Corescaunt.

Luke looked to the left, and saw what appeared to be a theater. On a board next to it, there was a poster that had some people on it. Luke recognized the Emperor and Darth Vader, but there were some other people that he didn't recognize.

There was a lady in a green dress, and curly hair, and a man with a scar next to one of his eyes, and another man with a golden beard, and kind looking eyes, and for a second, the man reminded Luke of old Ben Kenobi back on Tatooine.

On the poster, it said, 'Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith: Coming Soon.'

Luke snorted. "Whatever _that_ means."

Well, since he was here, he might as well eat. Looking around, Luke saw a place that looked like a food store. He walked in, and started looking around for some food he could steal for his lunch.

Luke didn't recognize any of the food he saw, so he decided to just take something random. Picking up some soft, brown thing covered with plastic wrap, Luke tried to walk out of the store unnoticed. Today was not his lucky day…

"Hey, stop! You haven't paid for that, young man!"

_Great!_ Without a second thought, Luke ran out of the store as fast as he could, not looking back.

Luke ran for a few minutes, and after a while, he thought he was safe, but it was not that easy to get away. Suddenly, two blue and white rolling speeders with flashing red lights, and noisy sirens started chasing after him.

Knowing that he couldn't outrun speeders, Luke looked around for a speeder that he could use. He came to one, but it just looked way to run down, he saw another one, but it didn't have an open cockpit.

He was about to give up, until he finally came to something that he finally approved of. It was love at first site; red paint, open cockpit, shiny and new, _this _was what he called a speeder! Even if it _did_ roll, he could deal with that.

Lucky for him, the speeder was parked. Unfortunately, there were some teenage girls in there.

"Just my luck," Luke mumbled.

Drawing his blaster, he opened the speeder door, and pointed the blaster at the girls. "Get out, now!"

Screaming, the girls were too scared to be anything but cooperative. They literally _ran _out, trying to get as far away from the blaster as possible.

Luke slipped into the driver's seat, and started up the engine. The speeder's controls were so different, that at first, Luke was afraid that he wouldn't be able to start it. Fortunately, he was.

The speeder started up and suddenly went full speed ahead. Luke dropped his stolen merchandise on the seat next to him, and put both his hands on the wheal, trying to get a feel for it.

"How do you drive this thing!?" Luke called out to thin air.

He did a quick turn, and nearly crashed into another speeder. Ops! He really wasn't good at this!

Somehow, he was able to stay on the road, but he was too busy driving to notice that he had just driven past an 'under construction' sign. In fact, he didn't notice until he was only a few meters away from a huge ramp.

"Ahh!"

Luke didn't have time to turn and get out of the way, he went right up the ramp, and the speeder flew into the air.

"Hey, we're flying!" Luke declared.

Then, the speeder went down, and landed on the other side of the road, and kept going. Okay, so maybe he _was_ pretty good at this!

"This is better then regular speeders!"

Luke happened to look down and see a cup holder, holding some bottle, and it wasn't empty.

"What's this?" Luke asked himself. He picked it up, with one hand still on the wheal, and took a sip. Luke's taste buds went wild as soon as the drink hit his lips "Whoa! That's weird!" After a minute, the taste sunk in. "And strangely tangy. What is this stuff?" Luke looked at the label. "Beer? What the heck is beer?"

…

Mack Mathews, police chief was in the leading car that was pursuing the thief. Darn, but this but guy was good! Mack had seen him jump the ramp, and do some spiffy moves with that car, that just _happened _to be a Dodge Viper.

…

Luke was on his second bottle of beer now, and he was quite frankly beginning to lose it.

There were ten cars on his tail now, and they were coming at him from four directions. Seeing this, Luke got an idea. He slammed on the brakes, causing at least five of the cars to crash into each other.

"Ah ha! Oh, that never gets old!" Luke declared, taking another sip of his beer.

…

Mack slammed on his brakes, barely avoiding crashing into the car next to him. Was this guy crazy!?

Mack got out of the car with his megaphone, and started speaking into it. "You are surrounded! Come out with your hands up, and nobody gets hurt!"

There was a second when nobody moved, and all eyes were on the red car. Finally, the driver came out. It was the last thing anyone had expected.

It was a boy with blonde hair, wearing a leather jacket. He seemed to be in his early teens. What was a kid his age doing driving a car!?

The kid was speaking. "Don't worry, boys, I didn't spill my beer."

Beer? That boy was drinking _beer!?_ What was _with _this kid? Where were his parents? Some of the other policemen came in and cuffed the boy, taking him back to one of the police cars. Mack saw one of them take away the beer.

"Hey, wait!" the boy said. "I liked that stuff!"

Mack rolled his eyes. It would be very interesting to see what would happen when the questioned the boy…

…

Later, when Luke had gotten a little more sober, he found himself sitting in an office. Across, the desk was the guy who seemed to be in charge. Reading his nametag, Luke learned that the guy's name was Mack Mathews.

"Name?" Mack asked.

Luke saw no reason why he shouldn't tell him. After all, he was in big trouble anyway. "Luke Skywalker."

Mack started laughing hysterically. "Ha ha! That's a good one! Now tell me the truth."

Luke couldn't believe this guy! Why did he think that Luke was lying? Why did he laugh when he'd told him his name?

"That _is_ the truth," Luke insisted.

"You must not be as sober as we thought," Mack mumbled. Then he said louder, "We'll come back to that question later. So how old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"Fifteen," Mack repeated. "Why is a kid your age driving a car?"

"Is _that_ what it was?" Luke asked. "I was _wondering_ what it was called!"

Mack decided that the affects of the beer had not yet gone. "No more jokes, kid. Where are your parents?"

Luke was quick to answer. "Don't got any."

_Well that explains it_. "Guardians?"

Luke was about to say his aunt and uncle, but then he realized that they couldn't really be his guardians anymore.

"None," was the answer Mack got.

"Where do you live?"

"Nowhere."

Mack rolled his eyes. This kid was impossible! No guardians, no home, then were did he come from!? What were they going to do with this boy!?

"Look, if you're not telling the truth…"

"I swear I am," Luke said calmly.

Mack sighed, and pressed the button on his communicator. "Dan, come in and lock this kid up until he can decide what to do with him."

Luke's eyes grew wide. It looked like he just wasn't young enough to let the cuteness factor work for him anymore. Too bad. It could have come in handy at a time like this.

…

A few minutes later, Luke found himself in another one of those cold cells. At least these had something to sit on. The last prison hadn't had anything but the ground, and that had not been comfortable.

"What am I doing here?" Luke asked himself. "Why did that wizard have to teleport me!? I want out of here!"

Suddenly, there was another bright flash, and Luke was once again, at the feet of the wizard.

"Am I glad to see you!" Luke declared, standing up. "What was that for!?"

The wizard smiled. This time, it was a nice smile. "I had to test you."

Luke snorted. "Oh yeah, like how does getting me into trouble prove anything?"

"I was able to read your heart. I cannot read anyone's intentions at such close proximity. I needed to get you far away. I did, and I was able to discover that what you said is true. Please forgive me for doubting you."

Luke grinned. "Since you're begging, I'll forgive you."

…

To Be Continued…

…

**Author Note: Thank you so much for the reviews, you guys! Please keep it up, and I'll keep the updates coming!**

**Also, you may have noticed that some of the dialogue in this chapter was taken from movies and such. Can any of you guess where some of it was from?**


	7. Chapter 6

**Author Note: This is the last chapter, but there is a sequal coming soon. See the author note at the end of this chapter for details.**

**Chapter Six**

"Very good," the wizard approved. "Now that we've gotten all that behind us, we can get onto business."

Luke cocked his head to one side, curios. "What kind of business?"

"Well, starting with our names. I'm Warlen. And you are?"

"Luke Skywalker," Luke said extending his hand.

The wizard shook it. "It's wonderful to meet you, Luke Skywalker. Now we must discuss this business with the ruby."

"Oh, yeah, about that, see Lenson told me, _forced _me, to come get it, so as you see, I'm nothing more then an almost innocent bystander."

Warlen nodded. "Yes, and all we have to do to protect the ruby is find some way to scare them off."

Luke glanced up. "Uh, Warlen, what's with you and that ruby? Lenson said that when his father tired to get it, he came back mortally wounded."

Warlen nodded gravely. "The explanation for this is simple. You see, the ruby is cursed."

When Warlen said this, a ghost of a wind blew through the room. The lights dimmed, and Luke shivered, suddenly very cold.

"What do you mean by cursed?" Luke asked in a whisper.

"Just that. You see, years ago, long before you were born, two sith fought over this ruby. This was long before the Old Republic was founded. Both of the sith wanted it, and neither was willing to give it up. They started getting violent, using all the powers that they possessed, trying to make the ruby theirs. Of course, they didn't know that there was a third player in the game, whose only goal was to make sure that no one _ever_ got the ruby, so he placed a curse over the ruby. Anyone who ever tried to take the ruby for themselves would be instantly killed."

Luke nodded, absorbing this new information. But something about the wizard's explanation didn't seem right…

"But wait! You said that anyone who tried to take it would be killed instantly, but Lenson's father had enough life left it him to tell everyone about his last adventure."

Warlen nodded gravely. "Yes, that is a strange story. You see, he wasn't just trying to get it for himself, he wanted it also, for another reason…"

"What was that reason?" Luke breathed. This was turning out to be very interesting.

"He wanted it to save his family."

Luke couldn't believe it. Lenson's father seemed to have been a pretty decent man after all, getting the ruby to save his family. But wait…

"How did he think the ruby would save his family?" Luke asked. It was another part of the story that he just couldn't understand.

"He needed a lot of money really fast, and what better way to get fast money then to obtain the galaxy's biggest ruby. It would have gotten him a fortune. But it was not meant to be. It's a sad story, Calvin Lenson's. He was never knew what his family meant to him until it was too late. The people he owed money to murdered his wife. He could have saved his wife, but he needed his son's help, and his son didn't trust him. His father had always been elusive and harsh, and when Calvin needed his son to trust him the most, the boy just didn't know his father enough to help him on his plan.

There was a long pause, until suddenly Luke realized the terrible truth. "Lenson. His son, Lenson."

He was beginning to understand that there was more to Langhorn Lenson then he realized. Lenson must have been much like himself at one point. He must have run away after his father died, and Luke had a pretty good idea about where Lenson had run away to. Corescaunt. Luke had done the same thing that Lenson had done. Lenson didn't have any parents, and nothing to hold him back, so he had decided to do what he'd always wanted to do… become master of his own destiny. And that was the same thing that Luke had done.

"Wow," Luke said. "I didn't know that there was so much to Lenson. I didn't know that he had gone through lots of the same things that I'm going through now. He never really had a father, and because of that, he grew up feeling different and deprived, so he learned to cover up his emotions with the same things his father did; harshness, and possessiveness with rare valuables."

Warlen smiled. "I believe you are beginning to open your eyes to others feelings. This is the first time in my thousands of years of guardianship over this ruby that I have seen something good come of it."

Luke felt good. At first, he couldn't figure out why. Was it because he knew that someone else had suffered through the same things that he had recently suffered through. No, it wasn't that. And then he figured it out.

He was happy because someone was approving of something that he was doing. It had been so long since someone had actually _approved _of what he thought, and what he did. It was a good feeling.

Warlen couldn't help but love this kid. Luke Skywalker was a fresh experience for him. For years, Warlen had seen person after person come for the ruby, and every person that came, he had to watch die, and just for this simple reason; not one single one of them had a good heart. But this boy was different. Yes, he was a little rude and was a complete street rat, but underneath all that, he had a good, warm heart, and above all that, he wanted to be loved and to feel like he was doing the right thing. This boy always had to justify his actions, and that was something that Warlen hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Well, enough with the stories and realizations!" Warlen said. "We have work to do!"

Luke grinned. This is what he wanted to hear. "What's the plan?"

…

Lenson began pacing impatiently. How long was this going to take!? He had sent that Skywalker kid for the ruby _hours _ago! Shouldn't he be finished by now? Shouldn't he already be back with the ruby in hand? When was he going to have what he wanted!?  
A rumble off in the distance caught Lenson's attention. Had the kid finally gotten it? Was he coming back?

It started out slow and quiet, but the rumble soon became fast and impeding, and the skies began to grow dark with clouds that Lenson had never seen before.

Suddenly, a voice, louder than any he had ever heard before began to speak. "HOW DARE YOU!"

Carrel and the rest of the men ran back into the ship in fright, screaming that the end had come, but Lenson wanted to see what exactly he was running away from.

At first, it was just a shadow, but then, and light, brighter than any he had ever seen began to shine. It was just plain light at first, but then it became a deathly shade of blood red. Off in the distance, Lenson saw the cause of the light.

It was the ruby.

But Lenson was no longer interested in getting it. A shining cloaked figure was coming at him, running, no _flying, _with laser bolts coming from his outstretched hands. With not even another glance at what Lenson was sure now was the wizard, he ran into the ship, just before it lifted up, and left the planet as fast as the men could pilot.

…

Luke couldn't help but laugh when he saw what fools Lenson and his crew had made of themselves.

He waited until he was sure that the ship had left the planet, then he ran up to Warlen, and gave him the ruby that he'd been holding. "Thanks for helping me out, Warlen."

Warlen smiled, and put his hand on Luke's shoulder, as he came to stand next to him. "You're very welcome. I needed them to leave anyway. But now we must speak of your return to your own home. We can't very well send you back to Corescaunt."

Luke laughed. "No we can't! If Lenson ever found me, he'd kill me on sight! But where can I go?" Warlen fixed Luke with one of his best stares. Luke's eyes grew wide. "Oh no! No _there! _No, I am _not_ going back to Tatooine!"

"Luke, you must make up for all the mistakes that you made."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh, so running away was a mistake!?"

Warlen nodded. "Yes. You must confront your aunt and uncle again, and ask for their forgiveness."

Luke shook his head. "I just can't do that."

"Luke, you must have learned by now that you can't force yourself to grow up. Running away forced yourself to take on lots of grown up's responsibilities, and you learned a lot of things that a boy your age shouldn't have to know. Luke, it's time for you to return to your real home."

As much as Luke hated to admit it, Warlen was right, as always. He needed to go home.

"Hold on! How am I gonna even be able to leave this planet!? Lenson flew off with the only ship!"

"Not necessarily." Warlen said grinning.

Luke cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

…

One standard hour later, Luke was standing at the bottom of the ramp of a ship that Warlen had given him. Apparently, Warlen had always had a fairly nice ship in his possession, and he didn't really need it, so, considering that Luke really needed it, he decided to give it to him.

"Thanks, Warlen," Luke said. "I'll never forget you."

Warlen smiled warmly. "Good. I'll never forget you either. And remember; be thankful for what you've got, because you'll never know when it will all be taken away from you forever."

Luke nodded. "I'll remember. Goodbye."

"Farewell, Luke Skywalker."

With that, Luke walked up the ramp, leaving behind the planet, and the wizard on it. It was the closing.

"You know what?" Luke said to thin air. "I think this has been my finest adventure yet."

…

Back on Corescaunt, a sith lord planned and waited. He would have his son with him someday, and all will be as it should be. Very soon, if all went well…

**The End**

…

**End Credits:**

**Author: The Bullet**

**Inspiration: Star Wars**

**Some of the situations taken from Indiana Jones**

**Character Rights: Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Owen Lars, Beru Lars, Fixer and Camie all belong to George Lucas**

**Langhorn Lenson, Calvin Lenson, Carrel, Warlen belong to The Bullet**

**Stay tuned for Episode II: Coming soon!**

**Author Note: Please Review!**


	8. Afterward

**The Hero's Path: Episode I**

**The Cursed Ruby: AFTERWARD**

Luke drove off in the ship, and plotted a course for Tatooine. Somehow, he got the feeling that he wasn't ever going to get there...

* * *

**Author Note: I put that up there for two reasons: one, I needed to talk to you guys about episode 2, and author notes aren't allowed to be counted as chapters, and two, I wanted to build tension for the next episode.**

**Now, **_**about**_** Episode 2, I want to post it; I already have a few chapters written, but I know you guys want me to finish my other stories. So if you want me to post episode 2, you better review this and let me know. If you don't, same goes for you. Review and tell me to finish my other stories.**

**Remember, a few chapters of episode 2 are already written. Keep that in mind when you review. PLEASE help me out, I NEED your thoughts in this matter!**


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